Security concerns surged ahead of a three-day summit of Asian leaders in Thailand when at least 2,000 supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra faced off with troops at the beach hotel where leaders from 16 East Asian nations are gathered.

Hundreds of troops guarded the entrances to the Royal Cliff Beach Resort in Pattaya (150km south of Bangkok) and even took positions within the hotel, when around 400 red-shirted protesters broke through two security cordons and reached the hotel gates, prompting police to push them back with riot shields.

Thai authorities insist the summit, which brings together the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to discuss mainly trade, food and energy security and disaster management issues, will go ahead despite the protests.

The rally was aimed at undercutting the government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva government as it hosts the prestigious summit of Asian leaders. Protest leader and former pop singer Arismun Pongreungrong told reporters that the protesters were not there to stop the summit, but to “join it, to represent the Thai people”. He claims Abhisit came to power undemocratically. Although the crowd was cheerful at first, chanting “Abhisit get out” and waving their movement’s trademark plastic foot-shapped clappers, tensions rose as protesters grew more insistent in their attempts to break into the hotel.

“Abhisit get out”

The mood relaxed only when a delegation of protest leaders succeded in handing over a letter to an Asean delegate. “We want to tell ASEAN leaders that this government has no legitimacy”, Arismun Tongreungrong told reporters. The protesters have vowed to return to the site on Saturday.

Vejjajiva assured participants that their security was not at risk. “We will ensure the meeting will proceed smoothly”, the prime minister told a press conference. The summit had already been relocated and postponed several times due to the political tensions that have gripped Thailand for several months.

ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan said there was “a level of concern” from Asian leaders about the protest but praised Thailand for opting not to “suppress” the protesters, saying these types of rallies are “part of democracy”.  Authorities are keen to avoid repeating the violent clashes between protesters and police forces in Bangkok last October, in which two people died.

Lasting tensions

Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup in 2006, but still has a loyal following among the country’s poor. The billionaire populist has been egging on the protesters from exile via nightly videolink messages.

Vejjajiva, supported by the country’s middle classes and the Bangkok elite, has repeatedly resisted calls to step down. On Friday his government hardened its stance against the opposition, saying it intends to arrest the leaders of anti-government protests.

The situation remains tense across the country. In Bangkok, around 100,000 protesters lifted roadblocks that jammed traffic in the capital on Thursday, only to regroup around Government House, waiting to see if there was a crackdown in Pattaya. Violence seems to underlie the current fragile stand-off, waiting to be unleashed.